WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Batman/Superman #2 by Joshua Williamson, David Marquez, Alejandro Sanchez and John J. Hill, in stores now.
The Batman Who Laughs has been defeated. The combined efforts of Batman, James Gordon and James Gordon Jr. saved Gotham City from destruction and stopped the villain from turning the Dark Knight into a nightmare version of himself.
Now what?
The end of Batman Who Laughs warned that things are just getting started with the reveal that six heroes are infected by the Dark Multiverse. Now in the pages of Batman/Superman, the Worlds' Finest duo is trying to clean up the villain's mess. They must hunt down these victims and stop them from making the Batman Who Laughs' vision a reality.
Now in Issue 2, it is revealed exactly where Batman has stashed away his dark opposite for safekeeping. Unknown to all the heroes of the Justice League, the Dark Knight has kept his nemesis in the most secure place anyone could imagine: underneath the Hall of Justice.
Batman is good at keeping secrets from his friends and family. No one knows about the evil Batman's plans or the potential traitors in their midst. Batman and Superman don't yet know who to trust. Because of this, no one could know where the Batman Who Laughs was being held. However, he couldn't hide the truth from Superman.
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The Hall of Justice is equipped with the most sophisticated security measures in the entire Multiverse. It's also a public location no one would expect to find something so dangerous. If there was ever a villain who needed to be kept locked up, this was the only place that could get the job done.
The funny thing about all this is that this isn't the first time the Batman Who Laughs has been imprisoned within the confines of a secure base. Following his defeat in Dark Nights: Metal, the villainous Batman was held captive by Lex Luthor in the basement of the Hall of Doom. The Batman Who Laughs advised Luthor on his path towards Doom in Justice League before ultimately escaping.
Now that Shazam is infected and out in the world, Batman and Superman have no alternative but to go directly back to the source. This means the Man of Steel must fake also being infected and go undercover. He breaks into the secret prison beneath the Hall of Justice in the hopes of getting answers from the Batman Who Laughs.
If this means Batman and Superman intend to break the Dark Multiverse Batman out of confinement, it may be for the best. Not only will they be using him to find the heroes who have been infected, but they can also avoid falling to the same fate Luthor did.
If the Batman Who Laughs is anything, he's a tempter who has a way of influencing those around him. Luthor has since become a monster, so the best place for this villain is as far away from the good guys as possible.
If the Justice League found out the truth about how Batman stashed the Multiverse's most dangerous villain right under their noses, there could be major repercussions. A division in the ranks is the last thing the superhero community needs as they get to set to fight the forces of the Doom and the Dark Multiverse at the same time.